Give your Customers a Buzz for your shop…

Have you ever had a chance to look at a Beehive closely?? It is the most incredible natural structure you can find. From the outside shape, to the internal structure which is a densely packed group of hexagonal cells made of beeswax, called a honeycomb.

Everybody knows how important first impressions are. But not everybody knows that the “first impression” is actually only a seven second window, I read somewhere thatif you don’t it will take an incredible 23 meetings to get that person to change their mind about you.

“First impressions are the fundamental drivers of our relationships,” says Professor Frank Bernieri of Oregon State University, who supervised Prickett’s study. “In a sense, it’s a little like the principle of chaos theory, where the initial conditions can have a profound impact on the eventual outcome. This is exactly the same for your windows; your window is the first impression people have of you, it is a crucial communication tool between the consumer and your brand, your products, your shop, it should say who you are and what you do!

The shop window display emerged as a major facet of the culture of consumption in the late 1880s, originating along with the department stores. There were meant to initiate a desire within the consumer, and depict an affluent lifestyle that people should strive to achieve, although likely will never quite reach!!

Window dressing, visual merchandising and store design support brand recognition, sales figures and the customer experience. It is generally agreed by experts in the post-modern retail environment that attractive window displays and well-planned shop floors are key to driving sales. “Good shop window displays are a mixture of theatre and visual advertising”. So here are a few tips to tell us your story, use a single colour theme to grab attention and communicate your store’s image. You could runs a line of blue tape across the window to mark eye level from the street then “plug” in the piece de resistance, you can then work around it. If you want to get noticed, avoid clutter and being predictable, think outside the box!!

The shops’ windows are not just about the shop itself, it also represents the first impression of the high street, do they represent a lively, vibrant town?? Would the local community want to come and have a real experience, then spend their pennies in the local shops and “buy local” rather than on the internet?

A quick look at a beehive should be enough to suggest to us how amazing is nature’s creativity.

Why couldn’t you be amazingly creative??

How could your window be more attractive?

What can you do today to improve the first impression your customers have of you?

With Christmas only 23 days away, shops are “dressed to impressed” and to celebrate their effort and creativity, The 2013 St Helier Christmas Competition has been launched. Vote for your favourite window, small, medium or large, or your favorite shop assistant, just have your say…